Sam Neill’s James Bond audition resurfaces following Jurassic Park star’s death at 78

Sam Neill’s audition for the title role of James Bond has resurfaced following the news of his death. Neill, who featured in the likes of Jurassic Park, Possession, and The Piano, died at the age of 78, his family confirmed in a statement released today (July 13). A statement from Neill’s family confirmed the actor had been cancer-free at the time of his death, following an all-clear statement in April of this year.

Neill had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2022. A statement from his family, released today, states: “Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free.” Neill’s work on Peaky Blinders and In the Mouth of Madness was rightly praised but fans of the New Zealander’s work suggest he was robbed of what could have been his greatest role.

Footage of Neill auditioning for James Bond, at a time when producers were shopping around for a successor to Roger Moore, has been shared on X. One fan wrote: “Sam Neill’s James Bond audition shows we were robbed of a suave, absolutely dashing 007.” Despite auditioning for James Bond, Neill confirmed he would not have taken it should he have been offered the sought-after role.

He said in 2022: “First of all, I wouldn’t have taken the role if they’d asked me to do it. It was the last time that I was bullied into doing a screen test. My agent insisted that I go and do it, [saying] it would be rude otherwise. So reluctantly I went out to Pinewood [Studios] and did this silly thing for a part I never wanted to do.”

While Neill may have been in with a chance of playing the Ian Fleming creation, the role would go to Timothy Dalton instead. Pierce Brosnan could have bagged the role at the time too and was in the running, but was held to his contract with NBC for Remington Steele. Neill, who had been friends with Brosnan at the time, confirmed this story and how he would have felt playing the role in the 1980s.

He added: “It was a part that my friend Pierce Brosnan was mad keen to do, and he was very good at it. I wouldn’t have been any good and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. And I certainly wouldn’t have enjoyed being recognised as that James Bond you didn’t like [Laughs]. So it was never a question.”

You can watch Neill’s James Bond screentest below. Those who commented on the YouTube video were thrilled by Neill’s performance, however brief it was. One person wrote: “He looks like a cross between Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan.” Another added: “I don’t think the world was ready for a Bond quite that sophisticated.”